


Words to A Face

by MTDSOW



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Sasuke is a little shit with issues, Uchiha Itachi Being a Good Brother, Uchiha Sasuke-centric, get this child some therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26549224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MTDSOW/pseuds/MTDSOW
Summary: Sasuke lay awake in bed, plagued with the same nightmares as always. The death of his family. The death of his clan. His brother- that man.He was shocked at first, but now he was beginning to think that his Sharingan was playing tricks on him.There was just no way that his word could be “kind.” He refused to believe it. Even if his sharingan has never been wrong before, even if he knows he’s missing something, there was no way that there was a secret large enough for Itachi’s word to remain the same as he removed the sword from his mother’s chest.OR:When Sasuke awakens his Sharingan during the massacre, he sees words over people’s heads. Sasuke struggles to find out what it means, and what his own word could be.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Sasuke, Sarutobi Hiruzen & Uchiha Sasuke, Shimura Danzou & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Obito & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 67
Kudos: 623
Collections: Fics That Should Be Adored and Loved, I Found These Masterpieces And Fell In Love





	1. Prologue

Sasuke ran home. The compound was eerily silent, and he couldn't help the feeling of dread pooling in his stomach. Sasuke swallowed and carefully walked past the gates. Blood. Blood everywhere. They're all dead… _oh god they're all dead._

Sasuke ran faster and faster until he reached his house. He stopped before the door and took a deep breath. The door creaked open and he stepped inside the house, careful to take his shoes off.

'Mother will be mad if I forget… I don't want to track mud through the house.' He thought. "Father? Mother? Itachi?" He called out into the darkness. He crept through the house, for some reason, he was worried if he made a noise, something awful would happen. He silently looked through the rooms. Dinner was on the table, it was cold now. The entire house was cold.

"Itachi?" He called again. He could feel his heart rate speeding up. _Why was no one home?_

Sasuke opened the last door on the first floor. There on the floor were his parents, blood pooling around their bodies. Sasuke blinked. There was no way… right? They couldn't be dead… they're not… they _aren't_! Sasuke stumbled backwards. His vision suddenly became much clearer than it was previously, yet he couldn't stop staring at the bodies on the floor. There were words above their heads… but they were fading. Why were there words? _Caring_ for his mother and _stern_ for his father. Now that he thought about it, there were faint letters over the other clan members' heads as well….

Someone stepped out from the shadows. "Itachi! Mother and father are both…. "

_Kind._

A kunai whizzed by him and cut Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke gripped his shoulder tightly and looked at his brother. "I don't understand… what have you done?"

Itachi said nothing, and revealed his Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke couldn't look away fast enough.

Sasuke screamed as the memories of what Itachi had done were forced into his mind. "Stop it! Why are you showing me this?!" Sasuke fell over and lay on the floor, panting heavily.

_Kind._

"You… you… you're out of your mind!!" Sasuke scrambled to his feet and charged towards his brother. He barely even got close before Itachi punched him in the gut. Sasuke coughed and collapsed to the floor. He looked up one last time, the word remained. 'I… I'm scared….' Sasuke thought. He turned and began to run. 'I don't… I don't want to die….' He didn't know why he thought he could outrun Itachi.

"Please… don't kill me!"

"You're not even worth killing." Itachi responded coldly. "Foolish little brother. If you wish to kill me one day, foster your hatred and despise me, survive in such an unsightly manner as this, by all means flee, cling to your wretched life.

"Take the life of your best friend. You must kill him." Itachi said. Sasuke's thoughts went back to earlier that month when they were informed of Shisui's suicide.

"You have the potential to become my opponent. You are someone who could be able to use the Mangekyou Sharingan, just like me." Itachi paused. "On one condition. You must kill your best friend." The wind began to pick up, and Sasuke wondered if it was doing it to spite him. "Just like I did…

"You… you killed Shisui?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"I did." Itachi responded with unwavering conviction.

_Kind._

"And because of that, I obtained these eyes." Sasuke's eyes widened. "If you attain these eyes, you will become the 3rd person, including myself to utilize the Mangekyou sharingan. However, at this present moment. You are not worth killing."

Sasuke woke up with a gasp and he struggled to get out of his sheets. He couldn't see anything. Why was it so dark? His head hit the floor, startling him out of his thoughts.

There was an ANBU sitting in the tree across from him. Sasuke could only tell because of the faint lettering he could see through the branches.

The ANBU's word was _calm_.

Itachi's word was _kind_.

He couldn't remember all the words he'd seen. It was like looking at hundreds of people once and hearing their names once, then being asked to put a name to a face. Sasuke tried to remember everyone, and look out for any familiar words. He still remembered some of the words from the corpses of his clan members.

 _Gentle_.

 _Neat_.

 _Serious_.

 _Shy_.

Sometimes he would see those words again, and get his hopes up, even though he knew that there was no logical way that they could be alive.

Of course there would be duplicates, he would tell himself.

At first, Sasuke could only see the words with the use of his Sharingan, but as the years progressed, he was able to see them without. He wished he had a way to turn it off, but there was no one to teach him.

He wondered, not for the first time, if Itachi could see the words too. Sasuke shook his head.

He didn't want to know.


	2. He Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That’s not true. Sasuke knows it isn’t true. He doesn’t know why he knows, but he knows. One of them is lying, it’s either his Sharingan, or him, and his own eyes are more reliable than a man who could easily fabricate an entire cover story at moments notice.
> 
> Sasuke can’t say he knows though, he can’t say anything. That doesn’t stop the anger from building up in his throat, his need to scream at the Sandaime and demand he tell him what he knows. But he can’t, and it burns.

Sasuke walked through the village and kept his head down. He didn’t want to be bombarded with words that he wouldn’t be able to remember, it just stressed him out and it made it difficult to focus. Each word had different colours for how much that word affected someone. The word would be deep red if it completely controlled their lives, and they were completely focused on that one thing, then it would gradually change to white depending on the different scales.

Itachi’s word was completely red.

Itachi was kind.

But… he couldn’t be, right?

Sasuke had no one to ask.

There was no one who could answer his question.

Sasuke knew nothing about Itachi’s comrades during his time in ANBU, and his other teammates were already dead.

Before Sasuke knew it, his feet were carrying him to the Hokage tower.

The receptionist looked down at him with sad eyes that held slight contempt for reasons that Sasuke couldn’t place, and told him that the Hokage would see him shortly.

So Sasuke waited.

A man came out of the Hokage tower. He had silver hair, and his word was blurry. Sasuke had never seen a blurry word before. The man looked at Sasuke with something similar to guilt in his eyes, and Sasuke’s need to know him increased.

“The Hokage will see you now.” The woman smiled and Sasuke entered the office.

“Hello Sasuke-kun.”

“Hokage-sama….” Sasuke bowed. Refusing to think of the time his mother taught him etiquette.

“Why is it that you wanted to see me today?” He asked.

“You… you knew him, didn’t you?”

“Knew him? Knew who, Sasuke-kun?”

“Itachi.” Sasuke whispered.

The Sandaime stilled and sighed. “Yes, I did.”

“I don’t understand. Why did… you have to know something.” Sasuke looked up at the Sandaime, his word was the same as always. The Sandaime was a special case, he had two words, but one was crossed out.  _ Sentimental _ was what showed more prominently, but  _ Teacher _ was crossed out if you looked at it a certain way. It was always there, but it was difficult to see over the other word. It was lighter than Itachi’s, but not by a large margin. He didn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him, and seeing as his muscles were still developing, that wasn’t very far. Sasuke doubted he could even move the man.

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

That’s not true. Sasuke knows it isn’t true. He doesn’t know why he knows, but he knows. One of them is lying, it’s either his Sharingan, or him, and his own eyes are more reliable than a man who could easily fabricate an entire cover story at moments notice.

Sasuke can’t say he knows though, he can’t say anything. That doesn’t stop the anger from building up in his throat, his need to scream at the Sandaime and demand he tell him what he knows. But he can’t, and it  _ burns. _

* * *

Sasuke sees the silver haired man again at the memorial stone. Sasuke hates the memorial stone.

There’s a whole section dedicated to the Uchiha, but to Sasuke, it feels rotten, dirty.

The man’s word is still blurry, but Sasuke thinks he can make out a few letters. He knows he’d be able to see it with his Sharingan, but he doesn’t. There’s a ‘g’ in there somewhere. Maybe an ‘l?’ It honestly looks like multiple words. Sasuke thinks that might be possible, some people have split personalities, meaning they would have more than one word, or maybe he’s going through a big change in his life.

Sasuke can’t shake the feeling that the man is familiar though.

Sasuke turns his attention back to the memorial stone, cold fury building within him. He walks forward with measured steps and stares at the back of the stone. No one looks at the back of the stone. It’s forgotten.

He vaguely feels his nails digging into his palms as memories of the night flash before his eyes. He knows he’s looked through these memories multiple times. He knows that nothing is going to change. He’s forced himself to remember enough times that he doesn’t even flinch when the memories come back uninvited. He’d be having panic attacks left and right if he let it bother him now.

Even though he’s scoured every inch of his mind and come up empty, he can’t shake the feeling that he’s missing something.

As he leaves, he can feel the man’s eyes burning into his back. Sasuke fights the urge to turn around and yell at him.

* * *

Naruto is annoying, but Sasuke can’t bring himself to snap at the boy.

His word is what stops him.  _ Bright _ . Naruto’s word is light red. Sometimes the colour will waver, but it’s rarely gotten much lighter than it is now.

Sasuke doesn’t want to see that brightness dim. He doesn’t want to be the reason for that brightness dimming.

It’s one of the only concrete things in his life.

Eventually, Sasuke decides to talk to him. He always seems to thin– too thin– so Sasuke hands him a bento.

They used to be rivals, but Sasuke doesn’t care anymore. Why have a rivalry at all? Most of the people in this room are going to die anyway.

Sasuke’s probably going to die anyway.

He doesn’t think Naruto will die though. There’s something about him that makes Sasuke think that he won’t die. Not for a while anyway.

* * *

Since Sasuke had his talk with the Sandaime, there have been more ANBU positioned outside his apartment.

Sasuke knows why. They think that he’s a flight risk. They don’t want another Itachi.

Sasuke remembers a time when all he wanted was people to see him in the same light they see Itachi. Now he wishes that they would stop.

He hates the pity. He doesn’t want to be known as the  _ Last Uchiha _ . He isn’t the Last Uchiha. There is another Uchiha, and Sasuke still considers him as part of the family. He probably will until he gets answers.

He will love his brother until the village forces him to think otherwise.

Because without his brother, who is he?

A nobody.

Not The Clan Heir, not The Last Uchiha, not A Survivor.

He knows that his brother would have killed him if they weren’t related, he just doesn’t know why.

Someone does though, and Sasuke is going to find them.

* * *

Sasuke graduates with ease and is put on a team with the sun itself and the most annoying person he’s ever met.

He also has that silver haired man as a teacher. Sasuke doesn’t know how to feel about that yet.

The man tells them to come up to the roof after making them wait for a few hours. His other teammates are mad, but Sasuke’s more focused on the man’s word.  _ Regretful _ . The word was completely red.

Sasuke wonders if perhaps that’s what his word is too.

Sasuke looks the man over carefully and can already tell that there’s something wrong with his eye.

There’s the beginning of a different word over it.


	3. Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He’s beginning to think that maybe being able to see the words isn’t a curse. People don’t know how to hide their words, because they don’t know that they have them. That would be like trying to control someone else's arm to do what you want, without even seeing where the arm is, or knowing that you should be trying at all.

Sasuke’s jaw almost drops when he sees the man who he assumes is going to be his new sensei. He clenches his teeth instead and stares at his left eye.

Sasuke follows Naruto and Sakura upstairs, filtering out the latter’s useless chatter and Naruto’s babbling.

Ever since Sasuke gave him the bento that one time, Naruto’s seen him as more of a friend than a rival, which Sasuke appreciates because rivals are a lot of work that he doesn’t have time for.

The man tells them to give introductions.

“Why don’t you go first, to… y’know, show us how it’s done?” Naruto suggests, looking to Sasuke for confirmation. Sasuke nods and stares at their sensei.

“Me? Well… my name is Hatake Kakashi, things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies.” 

Sasuke didn’t like the man at first, but when he thought about it, that answer was perfect for a Shinobi. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

Naruto and Sakura gave their introductions, and Sasuke forced himself not to vomit. He was pointedly ignoring Sakura’s word. He really wished he knew how to turn this ability off.

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like….” What _did_ Sasuke like? Not much. “A few things, and hate,” what _didn’t_ Sasuke hate? “A lot of things. My dreams for the future? Does it matter? And for hobbies… training, I guess.” Sasuke hadn’t meant to be so vague, he just didn’t have any good answers for the questions. Being so vague would probably work out better for him anyway.

Sasuke ignored the rest of what Kakashi had to say in favour of trying to figure out what Kakashi’s second word was. The writing was small and since Kakashi was moving in different directions, it was harder to tell what exactly the letters were. Sasuke guessed that if Kakashi removed the headband, it would be easier to read.

His other 2 teammates left but Sasuke waited.

“Hm? You aren’t going to leave?”

Kakashi was alive before the Itachi massacred _most_ of the Uchiha clan. He would know if there were any stray Sharingan running around.

“Do you know if there are any other Sharingan that are still in use?” Sasuke asked, staring just above Kakashi’s head at his word.

Kakashi tensed imperceptibly, but his word moved with him, so Sasuke could tell.

“Maybe.” Kakashi shrugged. That answered more than it should’ve.

Sasuke wasn’t dumb. He knew that the Hokage would _have_ to put him with someone who knew a lot of jutsu, and could train him in the Sharingan. He also remembered his father fussing over someone named Kakashi, and while Sasuke couldn’t remember the exact words that were spoken, he knew it was about a “stolen” Sharingan. Though, if it was really stolen, Kakashi would be dead. Bloodline theft is only punishable by death.

“You do know someone.” Sasuke said.

“Maybe.” Kakashi shrugged.

Sasuke tried not to get frustrated. “Can you just take me to them?”

Kakashi paused and appeared to think about it. “Maybe.”

And they’ll call him crazy when he seeks out his brother. “I need to ask them something!”

“Oh?”

They were getting somewhere now, at least. “Yes. I need to meet them!”

“Hm… let me think about it.”

Sasuke huffed, “Nevermind.” and just for good measure. “I _do_ know someone who knows how to use the Sharingan…. _He_ could probably teach me.” Sasuke made sure to say that just quietly enough that Kakashi could hear him, but he’d question if his ears were working. “Thanks for nothing, Hatake-san.”

Sasuke wasn’t going to call him sensei until he taught him something, and so far, the chances of that were getting slimmer and slimmer.

* * *

Sasuke learned not to trust people whose words were completely white. He’d had a therapist at one point, and his word was completely white. That therapist tried to get him to graduate early.

After that, he got a different therapist whose word was _cruel_ in medium dark red, and he began to wonder if maybe someone was doing this to spite him.

He didn’t get another therapist after that.

There were a lot of ANBU with completely white words. He was pretty sure that those ANBUs’ words changed on a daily basis, because he’d never seen the same word again on the same ANBU.

The ANBU with regular coloured words were also a lot more… human than the other ones.

* * *

Sasuke showed up to training at 9. He wasn’t really paying attention, so he didn’t really know what time to show up. He assumed it would be 9am.

Apparently he was wrong. He was late by 2 hours. That was fine though, Hatake-san was late by 3.

Sasuke needs to become a shinobi. He needs access to files that he can’t get unless he becomes one. He needs to be able to see the words _written down_.

He knows it’s not that simple though. There will be a lot of digging and piecing together, and Sasuke knows he’ll likely have to get someone else involved if he wants to go under the Hokage’s radar (for a little bit at least).

He thinks of working with Naruto to come up with a plan for the test, but he can’t seem to find him when he needs to.

“Hello Sasuke, looking for something?” Kakashi asks.

Sasuke forces himself not to flinch. “Naruto actually. Have you seen him?” Sasuke responds calmly. This is a fake Kakashi, Sasuke knows this. This Kakashi doesn’t have a word. He still has to be cautious though.

Clone Kakashi tilts his head to one side before smiling. Sasuke wants to attack him, so he does. He quickly forms the signs for a fireball, and Kakashi seems momentarily shocked.

Sasuke jumps backwards to avoid Hatake-san’s earth jutsu.

He’s beginning to think that maybe being able to see the words isn’t a curse. People don’t know how to hide their words, because they don’t know that they have them. That would be like trying to control someone else's arm to do what you want, without even seeing where the arm is, or knowing that you should be trying at all.

Again, Sasuke wonders what his own word is, and if he’ll ever be able to see it.

* * *

They pass, surprisingly enough. The test was about teamwork, who would've guessed?

Sasuke has a hard time even looking at Sakura. How could he? Her word is _his name_. 

Sasuke pities her.

He pities her because he knows he’ll never love her.

He pities her because if that’s her word, then everything else about her wasn’t important enough.

He pities her because she was put on a team with him, the object of her affections.

It’s a shame, Sasuke thinks. She could’ve done a lot in her life.

* * *

Sasuke trains until he can no longer. He’s desperate.

He’s found _nothing_.

He’s beginning to think that maybe there isn’t anything to find.

Sasuke doesn’t want to kill his brother, not before finding out what his word means. If he could see words, maybe Itachi could too, meaning he would also know how to change or hide his word.

That sounded too far fetched.

Sasuke wanted to cry, but he hadn’t since the massacre. Instead, he goes to find Hatake-san.

He’s going to ask him about the Sharingan. What else can he do? He doesn’t know.

Is there anything else he _can_ do? 

He gets a sinking feeling that the answer is no.


	4. Sharingan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke!” Hatake-san was in front of him shaking him slightly. Sasuke’s eyes snapped open. “Sharingan.” Hatake-san muttered.

Sasuke found Hatake-san in front of the memorial stone. “You have the Sharingan.” He said.

“I do.”

Sasuke looked at the ground, suddenly unable to find the words to say what he needed to say. He knew that Hatake-san had to have one, but hearing confirmation made everything worse. There was so much he wanted to ask, to say, but he couldn’t. His mouth wouldn’t move the way he wanted to, and even if it could he doubted sounds would come out. “I don’t understand.” Is what he ended up saying.

“Hm?”

“It doesn’t make any  _ sense _ .” Sasuke grit out. “Fuck.”

“Language.” Hatake-san chided, though he couldn’t hide the curiosity in his eyes.

“Why wouldn’t Itachi target  _ you _ ?” Sasuke felt the world spinning around him. “He said he wanted to test his strength, but he left me alive. He said he wanted to  _ test his strength _ but he didn’t go after any of the jounin.  _ Why _ ? Why would he target children who would prove no match for him, but not the stronger Shinobi?” Sasuke was rambling now, but he couldn't get his mouth to shut. “It doesn’t make any  _ sense _ .”

“Sasuke….” Hatake-san had no answers for him. No one had answers for him.

Sasuke fell to his knees. “Why did he leave me alive?” He muttered. “Why am I still here? He wanted to kill an entire clan just to see if he could, but in the end, he didn’t did he? Because I’m still alive. He had plenty of time to kill me, so why….”

“Sasuke!” Hatake-san was in front of him shaking him slightly. Sasuke’s eyes snapped open. “Sharingan.” Hatake-san muttered.

Words. Everywhere. Birds had words because of course they did. Animals, bugs, the grass probably had words just to spite him.

Sasuke’s eyes burned and he shut them immediately. He could feel something wet trailing down his cheek and he hoped to whatever deity was out there that it wasn’t tears.

He faintly heard Hatake-san curse and kneel down in front of him. “Sasuke, you need to breathe.” He instructed.

Hatake-san exaggerated his breathing so Sasuke could follow along. Eventually Sasuke managed to follow his breathing.

“Are you alright?” Hatake-san asked.

“No.” Sasuke choked out. “I’m not fucking alright.”

“…Fair.” Hatake-san helped him up. “Come on.” Sasuke’s head snapped up. “We’re just going to my place.”

“Oh.”

Hatake-san shunshined the both of them to his apartment and let Sasuke in.

Hatake-san made tea and motioned for Sasuke to sit on the couch. “So, what’s up?”

“What?”

“What was all that about earlier?” Hatake-san clarified.

“Oh.” Sasuke didn’t know how to tell him his thoughts. He didn’t even know if Hatake would trust him. For all he knew, Hatake-san could ship him off to the nearest mental institution after deeming him unfit for duty. “What do you think?”

“What do I think? Think about what?”

“What did you get from what I said?”

“Well, you were talking about… your brother.” Sasuke didn’t flinch. “You spoke about how… ‘it doesn’t make sense?’  _ What _ doesn’t make sense?”

“Are you sure you’re a genius?” Sasuke retorted drily.

“Sasuke.” Hatake-san warned. “You need to tell me what’s going on.” Hatake-san leaned forward on the couch.

“Only if you answer my questions about the Sharingan.” Sasuke leaned back.

Hatake-san didn’t say anything for a while, likely thinking over his options and whether or not it would be better to call up the Hokage and have him take Sasuke off the active roster. “Fine.”

Sasuke tried not to show his… well it wasn’t excitement exactly, it was hard to be happy about learning to use the thing your brother used to murder your entire family, anticipation would be better.

He didn’t want to start asking him about the words right away, in case it didn’t apply to non-Uchiha’s, or if he just didn’t have it.

“Your Sharingan was given to you, right?” Sasuke was really asking,  _ did you steal it? _

“Yes. By a teammate of mine.”

“When you turn it on, what… what do you see?”

“What do I see?” Hatake-  _ Kakashi _ (after all, he is teaching him now. The ‘sensei’ will have to wait though) repeated. “Everything is the same as always, though I can perceive people’s movements better and I remember everything I see.”

Sasuke tried not to visibly deflate. Kakashi couldn’t see the words. Was he the only one? Could Itachi see the words? Did the ability only apply to those with Uchiha blood?

“That’s it?” Sasuke blurted out.

“Hm?”

Better roll with it, he thought. “You don’t see  _ anything _ else?”

“Should I?”

“Why would  _ I _ know?” Sasuke scoffed, though internally, his mind was racing a mile a minute.

“Was that all you wanted to ask?” Kakashi prompted after a long break of silence.

“Can you train me with the Sharingan?”

“No.” Kakashi said without hesitation. Sasuke recoiled. He hadn’t been expecting a yes, but he didn’t think he’d be so sure. “Not yet.”

Sasuke looked up. “Yet?”

“Your body isn’t ready to keep up with the strain.” Kakashi explained. “If I trained you now, you would die of exhaustion before we got anywhere.”

“Oh.” Sasuke mumbled.

“That doesn’t mean I’m  _ not _ going to teach you.” Kakashi shrugged. Sasuke nodded, his brain carefully processing the information he’d gotten. “Now, how about you answer some of  _ my _ questions?”

Well, Sasuke thought, it was only fair. He would prefer not to though. “Fine.”

“What do you see with your Sharingan?”

As Sasuke expected, Kakashi is sharp. He would be a very incompetent Jounin if he wasn’t.

“A lot of things.” Sasuke responded coolly.

“Do you see anything other than what I listed?”

“Yes.”

“Oh? Humour me.”

Sasuke muttered some choice words under his breath, though he was absolutely sure Kakashi could hear them. “I don’t know.” Sasuke said finally.

“Don’t know what?” Kakashi prompted.

“I don’t know what I see.” Sasuke crossed his arms. “It’s… weird.”

“Weird? How so?”

It was then that Kakashi began to remind him of his therapists. Sasuke checked his word again. It was the same as always. Good. “How am I supposed to know? It’s not like I’ve got anyone else who can show me what it’s  _ supposed _ to look like!” Sasuke growled.

Kakashi seemed to consider his options. “Based on what I told you I see, what’s different?”

“There are words over people’s heads.” Sasuke said finally.

“Words? What kinds?”

“I don’t know! Just words!”

“Is that why you keep glancing above my head?”

Sasuke said nothing.

“What does mine say?” Kakashi asked.

“Do you really want to know?” Sasuke grit out.

“Try me.”

“It says ‘regretful.’”

Kakashi said nothing for a long time, seemingly thinking over the implications of his word. Fair enough, if someone told Sasuke that there was a word over his head which likely described the most powerful factor in his life, he would probably need some time to question whether or not your sane, and whether or not  _ he’s _ sane.

“Oh really?” Kakashi broke the silence.

“Yeah….” Sasuke didn’t know whether to bring up the other word over Kakashi’s eye.

“What about your teammates’?”

Sasuke wrinkled his nose thinking about Sakura’s word. If he told Kakashi what it was, he would never live it down.

“I’m not telling you other people's words. Privacy, you understand.” Sasuke repressed the smirk that was trying to force its way onto his face

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “Of course.”

That courtesy doesn’t have to extend to clan killers though. Sasuke thought. While he may not hate his brother to the extent that he should, it’s not like it was easy to just forgive Itachi for murdering his entire family. There are certain lines that one just doesn’t cross, genocide is one of them. The Sandaime has crossed too many lines to count. He lied right to Sasuke’s face, so Sasuke feels no need to do him any favours.

“Is there an exception to this rule?” Kakashi asked, seemingly reading his mind.

“Maybe.” Sasuke shrugged. He glanced outside. There weren’t any ANBU today. They must’ve thought he was safe with Kakashi. “I’m going home.”

Kakashi checked the time, “Time flies.” He muttered.

Sasuke got up off the couch. He didn’t give Kakashi a goodbye, instead, he just left. Kakashi didn’t stop him.


	5. 13 Going on 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Sasuke hated being an adult.
> 
> "He didn’t want to have to clean his entire apartment by himself every week, or make his own food, or teach himself how to do the laundry."

The next morning they went on missions as usual. Sasuke didn’t ask about the sharingan again and Kakashi didn’t bring up their previous conversation.

Sasuke listened to Kakashi’s words about training his body. He focused all his energy into that purpose.

He trained until he couldn’t move any of his limbs.

“Maa, maa, don’t you think you overdid it, Sasuke-kun?” Kakashi’s voice rang out across the training grounds, but Sasuke couldn’t for the life of him move his head to look.

He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a cough.

“Wow. I’m moved. I had no idea your vocabulary was so vast.” Kakashi retorts dryly.

“Fuck… you….” Sasuke mutters.

Kakashi raises an eyebrow and crouches down next to him. “I’m flattered.” He says flatly. “Would you like help?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Sasuke says nothing. He doesn’t _need_ help. He could sit here and wait until his muscles listen to him again in about 8 hours, but he’s also hungry. The last person he wants help from is Kakashi though.

Sasuke takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. He moves his fingers, then wrists, elbows, and shoulders. It hurts.

“I could help you y’know.” Kakashi sighs.

“I don’t… want your… help.” Sasuke grumbles. He props himself up on his elbows and moves the joints in his feet individually. Eventually, he gets himself off the floor.

Only to sway and hit the ground with a loud thud.

Kakashi scratches his cheek and watches as Sasuke tries again.

He manages to stay standing this time, all that’s left is to take a step.

So he does.

And he falls.

“Sasuke.” Kakashi chides. “I can help.”

“Fuck off and die.”

“Ah, it’s one of _those_ days, is it?” Kakashi sighs. “Alright kid.” 

Kakashi sits down in front of him and pulls out his book.

“Why are you still here?” Sasuke mutters.

“Well, the air is quite nice outside. Don’t mind me. Just pretend I’m not here.”

Sasuke scowls and forces himself to his feet. He manages to stand, but barely. He doesn’t want to go crashing to the floor again so he stays still until the world stops spinning.

Sasuke rubs his eyes tiredly. He wants nothing more than to go back to his apartment and sleep for the rest of eternity, but to do that he’d need to get there first. He looks at Kakashi again and his frown deepens. He doesn’t need help. He _doesn’t_.

“Can… you….” Sasuke mumbles.

“Can I what?” Kakashi asks, putting his book away and standing up.

“H-help… me.” Sasuke says.

“Why of course, I’m so glad you asked.” Kakashi eye-smiles.

“Wait, no I take it back-” Sasuke is interrupted by Kakashi picking him up and carrying him bridal style.

Sasuke flushes, but he knows if he asks Kakashi to put him down he won’t be able to get up on his own again.

Kakashi takes Sasuke to his apartment.

Sasuke is too tired to ask how Kakashi knows where he lives.

When Kakashi allows Sasuke to leave his arms, Sasuke heads straight for the couch. He doesn’t even bother trying to reach his room.

Kakashi sighs and says, “You know, when I said you needed to get your speed and physical strength up, this wasn’t what I meant.”

“Well you didn’t train me, dunno what you expected.” Sasuke’s words are slurred and his voice is raspy. He can’t find it in him to care as his eyes slip closed and he falls asleep.

* * *

When Sasuke woke the next morning, Kakashi was gone. He dragged himself out of his bed and checked his fridge. There was food in there. Kakashi must’ve cooked something.

Sasuke took the food out of the fridge and checked the time.

4am.

Sasuke scowled. He’d thought it was later.

The food was good, surprisingly so. He hadn’t thought Kakashi could cook.

Sasuke cleaned his plate and decided to get started on the tasks he needed to do for the day. He was meeting up with his team at 11am tomorrow, so it was good to do these things today.

He’d left all the chores until they really needed doing, so he got started on that.

He kept his house relatively clean because his parents would be disappointed to see him living in filth.

Sasuke got started with the laundry. He separated the clothes that could be washed together. He wrinkled his nose. He’d have to do 2 loads.

He tossed the clothes in the machine and pressed start.

Next was vacuuming. The walls in his apartment were soundproof, thankfully, so he didn’t have to worry about waking up the neighbors. Not that he would if the walls _weren’t_ soundproof. The most they could do was yell at him, then he would glare at them and they would cower.

Once the vacuuming was done he cleaned his shower, the toilet, and the rest of the bathroom.

Sasuke hated being an adult.

He didn’t want to have to clean his entire apartment by himself every week, or make his own food, or teach himself how to do the laundry.

Sasuke sighed and pushed those thoughts aside. They would do nothing but hinder him. He could wallow later.

He moved the laundry into the dryer and started the second load in the washer.

It was 5am now. He would go shopping when the stores opened at 7.

The next thing on the list was his weapons and gear. Those needed to be hand cleaned every other day so they wouldn’t rust or become useless.

He cleaned the kunai first, careful not to cut himself on the part where the hilt connected to the blade as he’d done the first 10 times he’d tried. Then he cleaned and checked the shuriken and rewound his ninja wire.

Sasuke’s hands were calloused and red once he finished.

The dryer chimed and he began folding his clothes.

He continued with his routine until he left at 7 to get some food.

He always went shopping early. He preferred to go when there was no one around to whisper behind his back, or when his eyes wouldn’t be forced to remember every word someone had just in case it was one of his (dead) clan members.

“Hello Sasuke-kun!” The lady at the fruits store beamed.

“Hasegawa-san.” Sasuke dipped his head respectfully.

“It’s been a while since I saw you, Riko missed you.”

Riko was the woman’s cat.

Riko hated Sasuke.

Sasuke hummed in acknowledgement and paid for his items. He left with a reluctant wave and a pat on the head from a woman he barely knew.

He had similar encounters in the other shops he went to.

_“Sasuke-kun, my daughter missed you!”_

_“Sasuke-kun, you should come by more!”_

_“Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!”_

If one more person called him “Sasuke-kun,” he was sure to harm them in some way.

“Sasuke-kun!”

Sasuke inhaled sharply and whipped around.

“What.” He said coldly. It was Sakura.

Sakura didn’t even flinch at his tone. “I saw you walking around and wondered if you wanted to have breakfast with me.” She asked sheepishly.

Couldn’t she see the bags in his hand? Couldn’t she see he was busy?

“Oh! Are you shopping? My mom does all the shopping in my house.” Sakura rambled. “Do you want help?”

Sasuke stood still. “What.”

Now Sakura flinched. Good, Sasuke thought.

“D-do you want help?”

“Why would I want _your_ help?” Sasuke asked, anger bleeding into his tone. How dare she.

“B-because I want to help you Sasuke-kun!”

Now, Sasuke knew the next thing he said may have been a little much, but she was insensitive, so, in Sasuke’s opinion, she deserved it. “I would rather have Naruto help me.” He said.

He wasn’t even lying. If he was forced to choose between one of them to go shopping with, he would pick Naruto in a heartbeat. Unlike Sakura, Naruto also had to buy groceries for himself, so he, unlike Sakura, would actually be of some use.

He would rather go shopping by himself either way, though.

Sakura’s eyes filled with tears and Sasuke walked away.

“Maa, Sasuke, don’t you think that was a little much?” Kakashi asked, joining him on his walk.

“I was being honest.” Sasuke said simply.

Kakashi hummed and pulled out his book.

Sasuke sighed internally and began walking up the path to his clan’s shrine. It had been a while since he’d come here.

Kakashi had probably never been here.

“Ah, I should go.” Kakashi put away his book.

So he was uncomfortable. Oh well.

“Why? You have a Sharingan, you should pray.”

Kakashi’s visible eye twitched.

“M-maa, I don’t think I should be here.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. While he could see where Kakashi was coming from, he was also wrong, and he would definitely be coming with him to the shrine.

“Why? It’s not like there’s anyone alive who’ll try to stop you.” Sasuke shrugged, feeling mildly concerned that those words no longer bothered him. “Besides, it’s not like you _stole_ that eye, right?”

Kakashi’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

They made their way to the shrine together.

Sasuke ignored the triumphant feeling in his gut.


	6. One of Sasuke's (Multiple) Dilemas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He blamed Itachi.
> 
> But then again… didn’t everyone?
> 
> No, scratch that, he blamed the Sandaime.
> 
> More people should blame the Sandaime, in Sasuke’s opinion.

Kakashi stays, though very clearly uncomfortable, and prays with Sasuke.

He seems to know how, which strikes Sasuke as odd. Who would’ve taught him? None of the Uchiha’s even liked the man.

Sasuke set that fact aside as one of the many strange things about his teacher. He stared at the pyre that was a couple meters away from where they were standing.

There hadn’t been time to burn all the bodies of his clan. He wasn’t even allowed to see them after ANBU took the bodies.

A cold gust of wind shook the trees and blew out the candle. Kakashi shivered.

Sasuke raised an amused eyebrow. “Afraid, sensei?”

“No. Just cold.” Kakashi said curtly.

“Mhm.” Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes and stood up. The sun had long since set and the hot summer air was cooling down. Sasuke took one last look around. He didn’t visit the shrine as much as he should’ve. He wouldn’t have a lot of time to do it now.

He should check the clan balance. See if maybe he could hire some genin (though knowing the mystery surrounding his clan, they would probably be chunin.

Sasuke began to walk away wordlessly. Kakashi followed.

“Sandaime-sama wants to speak to you tomorrow, by the way.” Kakashi mentioned.

Sasuke chose to stay silent, lest he say something he would definitely end up regretting.

The rest of the walk was quiet until they eventually split off and went their separate ways.

Sasuke pretended not to notice the comment from the owner of the newspaper stand about his hair. He pretended not to see the  _ look _ the new cashier at the produce store gave him.

He wasn’t insane. He wasn’t like his brother.

Sasuke slammed the door to his small apartment and ignored the way the windows rattled and his neighbors cursed at him. They were probably used to it by now anyway.

He stormed into the house with heavy feet and lay down on his bed.

There were books he should read. Chakra exercises he could do. Techniques to learn.

But Sasuke couldn’t for the life of him find the energy to get up and do them.

Instead, he closed his eyes.

What felt like a blink ended up being 2 hours. When Sasuke opened his eyes, it was 9pm, well past when he should’ve had dinner.

Sasuke looked up at the ceiling and vaguely wondered if he should cook something. He would die before he thought instant ramen was an acceptable dinner.

He definitely should cook something. There was a lot of food in the fridge that needed to be used. Tomatoes, lettuce, bread, fish, chicken, an assortment of spices. There wasn’t a shortage and compared to what he’d seen other orphans get he was pretty well off.

Sasuke scoffed. “Other orphans.” He repeated quietly to himself.

Of course he was better off than they were.

Those unlucky souls were under the care of the Sandaime. “Care” wasn’t the man’s motto, or a valuable quality in the old man’s opinion.

Now  _ that _ was something that made Sasuke sit up.

The Uchiha, despite the very obvious growing animosity, were quite rich.

Sasuke had taken to managing the money, meaning he got a look at all the past spending rates and profits. People used to pay a lot for an Uchiha to complete a job for them. Special requests weren’t out of the ordinary.

They’d been saving too, before the massacre. Sasuke sometimes wondered what they were saving for.

20 million ryo.

It was a substantial amount of money.

Konoha had… a  _ lot _ of orphans.

The hospital was pretty shit- bad too.

Sasuke had hated spending time there. The healers were subpar at best and honestly the mental section was just torture or, “there’s something very seriously wrong with you, would you like to have this random person enter your mind and figure out what it is?”

Not the best.

Then there was the awful managing of history and the sheer amount of bullshit implanted into the minds of the young Shinobi.

The academy was far too small too. All the weapons were bad and the targets looked like they hadn’t been changed since the first war.

Sasuke committed all of his thoughts to memory and wrote down some quick notes.

Titling them, “things to despise about Konoha, a comprehensive notebook” might seem treasonous….

Oh well.

Sasuke then split up his money depending on which things he cared about the most and then realized a very big problem.

He needed income.

Having a whole clan generating money was one thing, but Sasuke was only a genin.

The only viable option at his age would be to sell Uchiha land which was completely out of the question, and renting it would be impossible as well.

No one wanted to live in a house where someone died.

Even though most of the houses in Kohona once belonged to someone who died, most of them hadn’t died  _ in _ their houses.

Sasuke’s upstairs neighbor wasn’t as lucky, but that wasn’t his problem.

Really, it was good that the Sandaime wanted to meet tomorrow. They had a good deal of things to talk about, and Sasuke suspected that it wouldn’t be a very pleasant talk.

Sasuke spent the rest of the night planning carefully. Maybe he should just offer a completely new system all together? He should talk to the sun- Naruto. He should talk to Naruto.

And Iruka. And Kakashi.

He needed as many people on board with this as possible.

Oh. That’s right. He also needed to seem like an angry, vengeful orphan.

Sasuke couldn’t find it in him to be angry at anyone other than the past Kage and elders.

Who decided a civilian counsel was a good idea? Who thought, “oh, we should give those people 3 seats on the counsel because they definitely aren’t the ones to almost piss their pants when a sharp object comes flying their way. Y’know how they decide who lives and who dies? Yeah that was a great idea wasn’t it. Brilliant.”

Sasuke had… a lot of pent up aggression.

He blamed Itachi.

But then again… didn’t everyone?

No, scratch that, he blamed the Sandaime.

More people should blame the Sandaime, in Sasuke’s opinion.

Now he was getting off track.

Budgeting. Right. Budgeting….

Sasuke needed coffee.

So coffee he got.

He showered quickly and left the house. He made a quick pit stop at a civilian coffee shop.

Or, it  _ should’ve _ been quick.

“Sasuke-kun!” Ah, yes, meet Yukihira. A girl who used to be in Sasuke’s class but dropped out after she cut herself on one of the shuriken. She was 2 years older than him and very clingy.

She had silky black hair that almost reached her knees, weirdly perfect skin (not that Sasuke was one to talk), and long legs. 

She also always smelled like flowers. Despite the fact that she hated flowers. Meaning she used perfume. There was nothing worse than trying to be a ninja, but thinking  _ perfume _ was a good idea. It was almost as bad as the dresses and long hair. 

She ran up to him and gave him a hug. Sasuke almost stabbed her.

Actually, the perfume was worse.

Sasuke contemplated shoving her off of him. He noted the ANBU tailing him and decided against it. No need to show aggression when it wasn’t needed. Even if he  _ really _ wanted to.

“Yukihira-san.” Sasuke greeted.

“Aw, don’t be so formal. Call me Yuki.” She pouted.

“No.” Sasuke replied without hesitation.

“So cold.” Yukihira sighed. “I’ll have you warm up to me in no time.”

“Great. I’ll have a coffee then.” Sasuke drawled.

“Coming right up!” She disappeared around the counter and Sasuke wrinkled his nose.

He didn’t want to shower again, but now he smelled like flowers.

It was then when Sasuke realized that Kakashi hadn’t actually told him  _ when _ he was supposed to meet with the old lunatic.

He’d just show up and hope he was on time, or not horrendously late.

He had a day off today. Strange, Kakashi would usually just give them C ranks.

Not that Sasuke was complaining.

He was dangerously close to cutting Sakura’s hair. She twirled it and  _ looked _ at him. She would giggle too. Like there was something he was missing.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose. She was an average civilian, despite her intellect. She hardly ever applied herself and spent most of her time bothering Sasuke.

Sasuke didn’t really care about her. She was free to do what she wanted.

Sasuke eventually found himself wandering the streets. He was oddly calm. There wasn’t much to do around Kohona for recreational purposes if you were a Shinobi. Most civilian entertainment facilities weren’t open to Shinobi.

So, Sasuke decided to go to the library, ignoring the eyes staring a hole in his back.

Sasuke didn’t frequent the library. He usually just bought whatever books he wanted to read and if they weren’t related to training or learning a skill he needed, he didn’t buy the books. He’d always wanted to have a lot of books though. He wasn’t sure why. Something about having a large collection of things in a living space or bedroom made him weirdly excited.

Maybe it was because he didn’t have a lot of possessions, and probably wouldn’t ever. There was no point keeping things in one place if he didn’t know whether or not he would stay there.

It’s not like he was planning on living very long anyway. Most ninja didn’t.

Time moved forward and eventually it was lunch. Sasuke figured that now would be a good time to go and talk to the Sandaime.

Sasuke entered the building and walked up to the receptionist.

“Go right ahead.” She smiled. The word “polite” floated above her head with light pink lettering.

That was disappointing.

Kind of like the Sandaime.

It must’ve been a running theme among the staff.

Sasuke walked towards the Hokage’s office and knocked on the door.

“Ah, Sasuke-kun. Come in.”

Sasuke pushed the door open and walked inside.

There was another person in the room.

He had black hair and his arm was tucked into his shirt. Bandages covered his eye and shoulder.

Wrong. Wrong.  _ Wrong. _

This man was wrong.

Why did he have so many words? All over his arm and… and weren’t those the words of his clan members?

Sasuke dearly hoped that his surprise and horror weren’t showing on his face.

The man smiled at him and Sasuke felt an emotion he hadn’t felt since he was 7 years old.

Fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like the Sandaime, if that wasn't obvious.


	7. If You Want to Improve Your Eyesight, Eat a Carrot, Don’t Commit Genocide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Councilman Shimura.” He bowed, “Hokage-sama.”  
> The honorifics tasted like acid on his tongue.  
> “Sasuke-kun.” The Hokage smiled with gentleness that he didn’t deserve to have. Sasuke didn’t want the man’s kindness.  
> There was nothing the Hokage could do for him anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it takes me a long time to update for a couple of reasons, one of which being it's difficult to come up with words for certain characters, so if you want slightly faster updates (no promises but it definitely would help) feel free to suggest words for characters.

When Sasuke said “hatred,” most people would’ve thought he was talking about his brother.

He hated his brother, he really did but that didn’t mean he didn’t love him as well.

To Sasuke, Itachi never could really be “Clan-killer.” It didn’t match with his perception of him.

There are different types of hatred, Sasuke learned. Hatred born from fear and loss, hatred born from a difference in opinion, the list went on.

But then… Danzo.

Sasuke only knew who he was because he was Itachi’s superior. He’d come by their house at one point and Sasuke remembered how angry his father was after. Sasuke had gotten double the training (double the bruises, his mind supplied) and at the time, he was angry and confused. He’d thought for the longest time that he’d done something wrong.

He looked at Danzo and then the world sharpened, his thoughts began to come to light with startling clarity.

He had so many words  _ (the words of his dead family members) _ that it was difficult to see his own.  _ Megalomaniac. _

He had to meet his team later, he remembered.

There were things to be done, he told himself.

His anger was set aside. Not forgotten, never forgotten, but anger wasn’t what he needed, not at that moment.

He could save the anger for when he needed it or for when he was alone in his apartment.

Sasuke kept his face carefully blank.

“Councilman Shimura.” He bowed, “Hokage-sama.”

The honorifics tasted like acid on his tongue.

“Sasuke-kun.” The Hokage smiled with gentleness that he didn’t deserve to have. Sasuke didn’t  _ want _ the man’s kindness.

There was  _ nothing _ the Hokage could do for him anymore.

The man was called the God of Shinobi. It would be impossible for him to not be aware of the eyes residing in Danzo’s arm and eye.

They didn’t belong to him. Why were they with  _ him _ ? Had Itachi known about this when….

“Ah, that’s right. We’ve met before. I remember your father.” Danzo said.

“Father didn’t like you.” Sasuke replied with the innocence of a child. The Hokage’s smile quickly became strained and Sasuke tried his best not to relish in the expression.

“We worked together, he didn’t have to like me. He was a good colleague.” Danzo replied easily.

_ Sure he was _ .

“Was there a reason for this meeting, Hokage-sama?” Sasuke wondered, ignoring Danzo completely because really, when it came down to it, Sasuke was very petty.

“Yes. Danzo, if you would.”

“I’d like to offer you a position in the ANBU forces.”

Sasuke blinked a few times.

“Why would you want me in ANBU, Danzo-sama?” Sasuke asked with all the innocence he had left. The only emotion he was feeling other than pure rage was confusion.

“With the proper training, you could become a force to be reckoned with.” Danzo explained.

Oh. So that’s what this was. Danzo was trying to appeal to his vengeful side. He wanted Sasuke to think that Danzo’s offer would increase his strength. The only question that was on Sasuke’s mind was why?

Why go to all this trouble? There were stronger genin, older than him too. He hadn’t even gone on a C rank mission yet and here Danzo was offering him a position in ANBU.

Sasuke weighed his options. He could accept and possibly get roped into something he didn’t want to deal with, not at that moment anyway. Accepting would also allow him to monitor Danzo more closely and train his Sharingan, since this man seemed to have a plethora of them. There was also a high chance he would die if he accepted Danzo’s deal. Or he could decline and raise more alarm bells in their heads, make them wonder if he was giving up on his revenge, but if he declined, then he wouldn’t have to answer to Danzo, to bow his head anymore than he needed to.

So, Sasuke went with the only logical choice.

Sasuke was going to be late to training.

* * *

Sasuke, unsurprisingly, didn’t make it to training that day. He was far too angry to be of any use during the training sessions, and quite frankly, he just didn’t think he could deal with his team.

Sasuke was in the Forest of Death. He liked coming to the forest, the animals there always seemed to like him for whatever reason.

He sat at the base of a tree with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees. His eyes were closed and he cleared all thoughts from his mind. He felt the hum of his Chakra underneath his skin and his eyes turned red below his eyelids.

He expelled his Chakra and felt the ground beneath him, the trees above him, and every little animal within a short radius of his body.

Sasuke was snapped out of his meditation by a branch cracking and something flying overhead.

A crow.

How odd.

* * *

By some weird miracle, they had a C rank mission next. Naruto had gotten tired of the D ranks, it seemed.

“Where were you yesterday, Sasuke-kun?” Sasuke  _ hated _ “Sasuke-kun” now. Not that he was particularly happy when Sakura said it before, but at least Sakura didn’t have the eyes of his dead family members in her arm, even if she had insulted him to his face without realizing it.

_ “He’s just like that because he doesn’t have any family.” _

Sasuke didn’t like Sakura that much… though, to be fair, he didn’t like most of the people in the awful village he was forced to live in.

“I was summoned by the Hokage.” Sasuke didn’t offer any more information but Naruto asked anyway.

“The Hokage? Why?” Sasuke didn’t have anything against Naruto. He was already aware of the fact that the boy was probably much more lonely than he let on. He knew that the villagers hated him and he was also pretty sure he knew why.

The villagers were idiots.

“Classified.” Sasuke shrugged.

Naruto narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly. Sasuke probably wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t looking.

You’d have to be blind to just avoid the similarities between the 4th Hokage and Naruto. The man was blonde and Naruto was blonde. Neither of them were Yamakana’s. There were pictures of the 4th around if you looked hard enough, though most of the pictures of him were classified, the 4th and Sasuke’s father had been friends. It wasn’t hard to find a picture in the attic somewhere.

Again, the villagers were idiots.

Sasuke understood why it was kept under wraps though.

Even if Sasuke wanted to inflict a lot of physical pain on every single one of the civilians.

Even if he thought it was weird that Naruto’s birthday was on the same day as the Kyuubi attack.

Even if he thought it was weird that the Uchiha’s were blamed for the Kyuubi attack.

Even if he sometimes wondered why they called Naruto the “fox demon.”

Sometimes riddles don’t need to be solved, normally you can just ask someone who already knows the answer.

…Even if that answer was likely classified.

Training continued without any further interruptions other than some glances from Kakashi that the man thought Sasuke wouldn’t notice.

Jokes on him, Sasuke had been noticing the weird glances towards him since he was old enough to walk.

* * *

They had a mission to do. The man’s word was  _ disillusioned. _ His voice was gruff and his personality was terse. They didn’t know much about him other than the fact that he was a bridge builder.

Sasuke… Sasuke wasn’t a fool. He didn’t know if Kakashi and the Sandaime were just pretending to be ignorant of the situation in the Wave Village or if they were truly just complete idiots.

Knowing the Sandaime, the chances of him  _ pretending _ to be a fool were very low.

Kakashi on the other hand….

Well, Sasuke figured he would take up the position of Uchiha clan head. He just didn’t think he’d need to do it so soon.

The Hidden Leaf Village was going to get itself invaded, what with the sheer amount of extraordinarily powerful shinobi it just let walk free.

When was the last time anyone had heard from the Sannin?

Was… was Sasuke even supposed to know about the Sannin?

Probably not….

He only knew because of the stories Itachi and Shisui would tell him.  _ The all powerful Sanin _ , they were called.  _ Taught by the Sandaime himself _ .

No wonder they ran away. The Sandaime had to have taught them something, Sasuke wouldn’t have been surprised if it was cowardice.

“Deep in thought?” Kakashi’s voice startled Sasuke out of his musings.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Sasuke snarked. He did need to talk to Kakashi about Danzo though. Sasuke scanned their surroundings. There were too many eyes on them.

“Sasuke, walk with me.” Kakashi said. Sasuke nodded and the two of them began to walk to the lesser known part of Konoha. The only way to get there was through 5 sets of shortcuts and 1 secret door. It was a ninja village, they were bound to have secret passages and doors.

Once they were sure that they weren’t being watched and that there were no eavesdroppers Kakashi turned to Sasuke.

“I imagine you have something to talk to me about?”

“Danzo asked me to join ANBU.” Sasuke said, cutting right to the chase.

“What?!”

_ Flashback _

“But how are you better than Kakashi sensei? At least  _ he _ can train me with the Sharingan.” Sasuke responded with all the stubbornness of a mule.

“Ah.” Danzo said quietly. “You don’t find your teacher lacking in any way?”

“Does it matter?” Sasuke replied coolly. “He’s got a Sharingan, it doesn’t matter if I like him or not.”

“I see.” Danzo nodded. “Well, Sasuke-kun, the option is always open for you.”

“I will keep that in mind, Danzo-sama.”

_ End of Flashback _

“I didn’t accept of course, but if you don’t start training me with the Sharingan, I’ll have no reason to stay as your student. In Danzo’s eyes, anyway… in Danzo’s multiple stolen eyes.” Sasuke mumbled the last bit but he knew Kakashi heard it anyway.

“Danzo offered you a position in ANBU….” Kakashi repeated lowly. “I have a feeling that’s not all. Why didn’t you accept? ANBU is notorious for its rigorous training and you would be able to get much stronger much faster.”

“I just didn’t want to.” Sasuke lied. Kakashi, of course, saw right through it.

“What was Danzo’s word?”

“Which one?” Sasuke chuckled humorlessly.

“He has more than one?” Kakashi wondered.

“The words are hardly his. Like I said, he stole them. Were you even listening to me?” Sasuke choked, rage from the meeting bubbled up in his throat and the grief of knowing that his family wasn’t even put to rest properly overwhelmed him.

“Sasuke. What happened?” Kakashi asked with gentleness Sasuke didn’t know he had. From the looks of it, Kakashi was surprised too.

“He stole them. He ripped their eyes out of their fucking skulls and… and I  _ can’t _ … I can’t do this. I’m gonna kill him.”

“Ah….” Kakashi, to his credit, didn’t outwardly react other than the way his hands tightened and his jaw set. “You can’t kill him. Not now. Not yet.”

Sasuke didn’t know when it happened, but he was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled into his chest and his back against a cold brick wall.

“I hate this fucking village.” He mumbled.

“Fair enough. Come on, up you get. We’ve got shit to do.” Kakashi held out his hand and Sasuke hesitantly took it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke: I’m feeling a bit treasonous today. Dunno, might stab some council members, burn down the Hokage’s house. It depends on what I’m feeling.
> 
> Kakashi: …You are so obviously not okay but neither am I and this treason thing sounds interesting.


End file.
